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The Oxus Civilization La Civilización Del Oxus

CuPAUAM 39, 2013, pp. 21-63

The Oxus La Civilización del Oxus

1 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky

Recibido: 01-07-2013 Aceptado: 20-10-2013

Resumen La Civilización del Oxus, también conocida la Civilización de -, está centrada en el oasis de Murghab, Turkmenistán, y datada entre el 2200-1700 AC. Descubierta por Victor Sarianidi en la década de 1970, continua sus excavaciones en el poblado de +20 hectáreas de . La Civilización del Oxus tiene una arquitectura única, una cultura material excepcionalmente rica, y contactos con , el Valle del Indo y la llanura iraní.

Palabras clave: Civilización del Oxus, Bronce Inicial, Turkmenistán, Gonur depe.

Abstract The Oxus Civilization, also known as the Bactrian-Margina Civilization, is centere in the Murghab Oasis, , and dated to 2200-1700 BC. Discovered by Victor Sarianidi in the 1970s, he continues his excavations on the +20 hectare site of Gonur depe. The Oxus Civilization has unique architecture, an exceptionally rich material culture, and contacts with Mesopotamia, the Indus and the .

Key words: Oxus Civilization, Early Age, Turkmenistan, Gonur depe.

The discovery of a spectacular , a rich lizational status, was uncovered in Central tomb, a treasured hoard, or an ancient city (Sarianidi, 1976). Its principal discoverer was belonging to the earliest attracts a Victor Sarianidi, then of Moscow’s Institute of very considerable attention. Thus, one might , Soviet Academy of Sciences (Fig. 1). imagine that the discovery of a completely He has spent the past 40 years excavating the 40+ unknown civilization would create a flurry of hectare site of Gonur depe in Turkmenistan. For interest. At the very least, one might expect this archaeological discovery he coined the cum- such a discovery to attend the interest of the bersome term the ‘Bactrian Margiana professional archaeologist. Not entirely so. In Archaeological Complex’, hereafter the BMAC. notable introductory texts on archaeology there Bactria and Margiana were the geographical is hardly mention of its existence (Fagan, 2009; terms by which the , following Renfrew and Bahn, 2008; Scarre, 2009; ’s conquests referred to this , of Chazan 2010). In the late 1970s a remarkable . Margiana (Margush), in turn was a archaeological complex, fully worthy of civi- Persian satrapy compromising both .

1 Stephen Phillips Professor of Archaeology and Ethnology, University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138- Department of Anthropology, Peabody Museum, Harvard 2019, USA. [email protected] ISSN 0211-1608 22 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figure 1. Victor Sarianidi in the laboratory at Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2007: 11).

Alternatively, and with increasing frequency, English. All are splendidly illustrated with pho- the ‘Oxus Civilization’, is used to denote the tos, plans, and drawings of the architecture and BMAC. The Oxus being the name the Greeks artifacts recovered. All are dominated by used in denoting the great River, the Sarianidi’s expansive interpretations regarding greatest of Central Asian rivers. The settlement the religious beliefs, ethnicity, and of density of the BMAC is distributed along the the residents of the BMAC (more on this below). smaller Murghab River which originates in the A series of radiocarbon dates from a number of Paropamisus Mountains of and BMAC settlements place the civilization between debauches into the Karakorum desert (Masimov, 2200-1700 B.C. (but see H. Junger’s article for 1975; Salvatori, 2008). Over the past two decades radiocarbon dates of 2500-1700 B.C. in Kozhin et this region has been subject to intensive settle- alii, 2010) (Fig. 2). ment survey (Salvatori and Tosi, eds., 2008; The quest for origins, though often said to be Gubaev et alii, 1998) and the excavation of at least a half dozen sites. To date several have a secondary consideration, remains a primary been written by Victor Sarianidi (see bibliography focus of archaeological concern. The conceit of and Lamberg-Karlovsky, 2003 for review), largely the archaeologist is to focus upon an ethno- based on his own excavations at the site of Gonur graphic reconstruction of the past, a concern that depe. His books are published in Turkmenistan transcends the ephemera of ‘origins’. The ques- and , thus very difficult of access and are tion remains: When, Where and How did this laudably tri-lingual: Turkman, Russian and archaeological entity originate? Within the con- ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 23

Figure 2. The riverine oases and major settlements of the Oxus Civilization (Sarianidi, 1998: 34 fig. 9). text of the BMAC this is a vexing and much due to the lack of excavation but to the research debated topic. Two hypotheses, their foreign vs. strategy pursued. local origin, contend for attention – given present As to the origin of the Oxus Civilization the evidence neither can be conclusively affirmed or first hypothesis argues for a distant and foreign negated. Chronological distinctions, settlement source. This view is championed by Sarianidi size and pattern, relationship to irrigation, subsis- who believes their origin is to be sought in tence economy, and socio-political structure . In his view a great migration of the remain almost entirely unexamined. This is not residents of the BMAC traversed ISSN 0211-1608 24 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figure 3. Sarianidi’s hypothesis concerning the eastward migrations of the Oxus Civilization from Anatolia (Sarianidi, 1998: 163 fig. 75).

Mesopotamia where they “could not find free In the last half of the third millennium, and for land”, crossed the Iranian Plateau, and finally millennia before that, the Iranian Plateau was found their “free land” in the deltaic fan of the inhabited by a of distinctive cultures – all Murghab River (Fig. 3). Other tribes are alleged reasonably defined by the archaeological record to have continued their migration to (Petrie, 2013). Toward the last centuries of the Northwestern (Sarianidi, 2009: 42-43). third millennium a restricted inventory of BMAC Central to Sarianidi’s imagination is his belief artifacts appear on a number of sites on the that the migrants were , specifically Indo- Iranian Plateau and in the Indus Valley and the Iranians, who followed proto-Zoroastrian beliefs : i.e.: , , Shahdad, and rituals. Tentative support for the foreign Khinaman, Hissar, , , Mohenjodaro, emergence comes from Pierre Amiet (2004). and Tell Abraq. The archaeologist refers to the Both entertain notions of BMAC affiliations finds of BMAC materials on sites of an indigenous (origins) with an Elamite world pointing to a culture as “site intrusion”, that is, artifacts number of archaeological sites on the Iranian restricted in number and type recovered from an Plateau that contain BMAC materials. Amiet indigenous culture. There can be little doubt identifies the BMAC as having a “Trans- that the BMAC influenced the indigenous cul- Elamite” identity, a culture of artisan tures of the Iranian Plateau and the Indus distributed across the Iranian Plateau to Central Civilization, while in complimentary fashion Asia. Steinkeller (see n.d. in bibliography) simi- numerous artifacts of the Indus and Iranian larly entertains a diffuse origin from the Iranian Plateau are known from Gonur depe (Sarianidi, Plateau. 2009) (Fig. 4a, 4d, 4e). Note, however, that not ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 25

Figures 4a. Ceramic parallels between the Oxus and Shahdad, (Sarianidi, 1998: 139 fig. 71). a single BMAC artifact has been recovered from Iranian Plateau: Malyan (ancient ), Godin Mesopotamia while an inscribed Akkadian Tepe and on all sites of NW Iran (on the Khorasan was recovered from Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2002; Road), while present at Susa they are absent on 2005) (Fig. 4b). The view for a foreign, migrato- neighboring Choga Mish in Khorasan, and absent ry origin of the BMAC simply lacks sufficient at Shahr-i Sokhta; while present at Shahdad they credible evidence. The distribution of a diffuse are absent at Yahya, Konar Sandal, and . inventory of BMAC artifacts over a vast landscape On the Iranian Plateau where BMAC artifacts are offers little geographical focus for a point of origin. recovered they are intrusive, a limited number of Amiet (1986) and to a certain extent Steinkeller’s artifacts, found in the context of an indigenous (n.d.) promotion of a trans-Elamite Culture (con- local culture. One cannot demonstrate the exis- sisting according to Amiet of pastoral nomads) tence of a shared trans-Elamite Culture on the that identifies BMAC origins within the context Iranian Plateau only a limited inventory of intru- of indigenous cultures of the Iranian Plateau sim- sive BMAC artifacts recovered from distinctive ply does not stand up to the archaeological evi- cultures on the Iranian Plateau! dence. The BMAC is a wholly distinctive culture Hypothesis two argues for a local oases/pied- whose origins are to be sought in Central Asia not mont origin. A rich post settlement of within the context of the cultures of the Iranian Central Asia begins with a mid-seventh millenni- Plateau! um (Dani and Masson, 1992). In the So we turn to hypothesis two; an indigenous zone of the Kopet Dagh Mountains sites origin. BMAC artifacts are, in fact wholly absent as Ilgynly tepe, dated to the fifth millennium, on important and contemporary sites of the illustrate an elaborate , an exceptional

Figures 4b. Akkadian cylinder seal with inscription from Gonur (Sarianidi, 2005: 258, fig. 115). ISSN 0211-1608 26 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figures 4c. Seal of the Indus Civilization from Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2005: 258 fig. 114). repertoire of figurines, complex within 3rd millennium. Excavations at Altyn depe, elaborate architectural features, all within a substan- recently directed by Liubov Kircho (2008; tial settlement (Solovyova, 2005; Salvatori et alii, Masson, 2001) suggest a local emergence for the 2009) Impressive and BMAC. Furthermore, the BMAC was not the first settlements, such as Namazga and Altyn depe, to settle in the Murghab delta. Recent excavations th sustain urban populations throughout the 4 and at Adji Kui 1, directed by Gabriele Rossi Osmida (2008; 2011), indicate the presence of a distinc- tive earlier settlement, radiocarbon dated to ca. 2700 B.C. Stratified above that settlement are several fully fortified BMAC communities. The excavator argues for a local development of the BMAC. The indigenous of the Oxus Civilization is not, however, a new notion. Years ago Kohl (1984) in an early and enduring review of the archaeology of Central Asia offered a compelling argument for a local origin. The signature of the Oxus Civilization rests in its impressive architecture. More specifically, in Figure 4d. Duck weight (?) from Gonur depe (Rossi the monumentality of the systems Osmida, 2002: 100). that surround each settlement (Fig. 5). The sites

Figure 4e. Cylinder seal from the “ of Sacrifices”, Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2005: 283 fig. 137). ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 27

of Gonur, , Adji Kui 1 and 9 serve as Contemporary communities, i.e. Adji Kui 1 exemplary models of the extent to which the and Adji Kui 9, are less than 3 kilometers distant community was fortified. One, two, even three from each other and are both fortified, perimeter walls, most 2-4 meters in impressive suggesting that even nearest neighbors, likely width, enclose a community incorporating an area subject to a common authority, were fortified. in excess of 20,000 square meters. Within this Decades ago 12 sites were identified within a 20 area at Gonur, Sarianidi identifies , x 20 kilometer region in the Adji Kui Oasis. This palaces, areas of craft production, and ritual does not, however, accurately reflect the settle- activities. Beyond this fortified area the commu- ment regime of the oasis. Of the 12 sites initially nity extended its walled settlement to 20+ hectares. surveyed only three survived the past 20 years of Gubaev et alii (1998) notes that numerous settle- agricultural expansion, principally cotton pro- ments surrounding Gonur were not fortified. Such duction. Alluviation and an extensive agricul- an observation becomes dubious in light of the tural development that began in the 1930s fact that fortification systems around Gonur could claimed the destruction of an unknown number not be determined prior to excavation. of ancient settlements. Extensive alluviation,

Figure 5. Aerial view of the excavation at Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2007: 145). ISSN 0211-1608 28 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

deflation, and the destruction of sites resulting remarkable persistence, and last remnants, of the from the reclamation of agricultural land prohibit Central Asian Qala and its associated social struc- the reconstruction of an accurate settlement ture, is readily documented in 19th and 20th cen- regime. An approximation, however, of the tury Afghanistan (Barfield, 2010). In his study of dense settlement regimes within the Murghab the BMAC the architectural historian Mohammed delta during the Bronze and Ages is hinted at Mamedov (2003: 41, 139) observes that the in the archaeological surveys and maps produced monumental architecture was built on a “definite over the past two decades by the joint Turkman modular plan”, oriented to the cardinal points, and Italian missions (Salvatori and Tosi, 2008; while the size of bricks is the same as that found Gubaev, Koshelenko and Tosi, 1998). on earlier sites (“Aeneolithic Age”) in the Kopet Dagh, suggesting a local Central Asian continuity What do the elaborate and uniquely fortified of architectural . He further observes communities of the BMAC signify and how do that the architectural features of BMAC fortifica- they address their social world? A cycle of vio- tions, both monumental and domestic architec- lence must be entertained. Large urban centers ture, involved “the same planning principles that such as Gonur and Togolok presided over satellite formed the basis of many monumental construc- communities which were also fortified. Within tions of Central Asia from the antique and the restrictive oases of the Murghab deltaic fan medieval periods that subsequently survived in ecological constraints may have exacerbated folk architecture until the middle of the 20th cen- needs for access to water, agricultural land and tury” pasturage. Contests for the control of water and th access to irrigation systems, amply documented at A 19 century description of these qala’s and this time throughout Central Asia (Andrianov, the central role they played in opposing the 1969), fueled conflict for the control of limited Russian annexation of Central Asia is vividly land and water resources. Ethnographic and his- described in the books of Mac Gahan (1874; torical sources offer instruction and ample analo- Schuyler, 1876; O’Donovan, 1882). Schuyler gies. In the later and medieval period a (1876, II: 381) writes: “These forts were in all characteristic feature of the landscape was the probability intended to protect the aqueducts [irri- Qala – a large fortified community serving as the gation systems] and the tilled land from incur- residence of the local Khan and a defensive sions of nomads”. In 1881, between January 12- th retreat for the community in times of attack 24 a tsarist army under the command of General (Lamberg-Karlovsky, 1994; Szabo and Barfied, Mikhail Skobelev laid siege to the large rectangu- 1991: 162-163) in their comprehensive study of lar fortress of Geok Tepe. It was the last Central architecture offer the following definition for the Asian territory, defended by the Tekke Turkman, qala: “The dwelling type known as the qala to fall to tsarist Russia. The population of the originated as a fortified farm compound with surrounding countryside gathered in a fortress thick, massive outer walls in square or oblong with an uncanny resemblance to those of the plan averaging 40-80 m per side of 6-8 m in BMAC. The Turkman are said to have suffered losses of 14,500 before surrendering to General height. At each corner is a defense tower rising Skobelev. O’Donovan (1882) was an eyewitness approximately 1 1/ times the height of the walls 3 to the Geok Tepe battle and offers a vivid descrip- (…) multistoried dwelling and storage spaces are tion of that confrontation. His observations on the constructed against the outer walls with the doors are of interest (O’Donovan, 1882, and windows facing a central compound (…) II: 143) “The fortifications were of the kind which [with] single entry gate (…) Each qala is a self- the populations of these Central Asia plains seem contained unit providing shelter and protection to have constructed from time immemorial and for an extended family, their farm animals, and the remnants of which one still sees scattered far the provisions necessary for survival”. and near” and “it was the intention…to concen- Such is a fulsome description of the BMAC trate themselves and their families within the architectural template. For centuries the largest of fortress in case of invasion” (O’Donovan, 1882, qala’s was the center of political authority, a focus II: 146) and, finally, “each man having his musket of craft production, a facility for the storage of slung on is back as he follows the or harrow” surplus products, and the residence of the tribal and “on the first alarm of an inroad, the oxen are leader, family and retainers (Tolstov, 1948). The hurriedly driven under the walls of one of the for- ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 29

tified towers which dot the country” and “place made to publish materials from distinctive strata. themselves within the fort to protect their proper- Regrettably, even after more than thirty years of ty by the fire of their muskets (O’Donovan, 1882, research and excavation, the chronology and II: 62-63). Of equal interest is his observation on stratigraphy of the BMAC remains deeply the association of forts and irrigation. In dis- problematic. The principle sites excavated cussing the great Dam of Banfi and its nearby Gonur, Togolok and Sapeli, to mention but three, fort, the Baba Kabasi, he states ‘without this dam did not attend to stratigraphic distinctions nor are the present cultivated area would be reduced to a the limited number of radiocarbon dates associated condition as bleak and arid as that of the plains with specific stratigraphic levels or material that surround it (…) the old Sarouk fortress (…) inventory. Gonur depe, subjected to over 30 years constituted the central stronghold of [the of excavation and with 1000s of square meters of principal city along the Murghab], and protected architecture exposed to various depths is published the water-works” (O’Donovan, 1882, II: 175). as a single period site. Its material inventory, different building levels, and cemetery with over The Merv Oasis which constitutes the apex of 2500 burials exposed, is published as a contem- the Murghab deltaic fan is about 40 miles in width poraneous inventory. The C-14 dates, often and length and constitutes approximately 1, 600 derived from unspecified contexts, bracket a square miles, being the largest of the Oases within range of 2100-1700 B.C. In his 85th year, Victor the BMAC horizon. In the 19th century Henry Sarianidi, with relentless energy, enthusiasm, and Lansdell (1885: 476-477) gave the width of a vivid imagination, continues to excavate at Murghab around Merv as “80 to 100 paces” and Gonur. To date he has published more than a half up to “23 feet” in depth. The presence of a large dozen books on Gonur. His imagination populates dam “diverts the water among the two sections of Gonur with kings, priests, temples and palaces. the oasis by means of two main canals, the The inhabitants of Gonur are identified as Aryans, Otamish and the Tokhtamish (…) each of the specifically undifferentiated Indo-Iranians. two canals distributes water through about 50 Parallels to architecture and materials remains are leading arteries, and these in turn feed hundreds drawn with , Anatolia, and . The of smaller leats”. inhabitants of Gonur are identified as adhering to Each of the two canals was occupied by “proto-Zoroastrian” beliefs, while architectural different clans of the Tekke tribe, themselves features, ceramics and small finds are taken to be divided into 17 distinct branches. Additionally, evidence for Zoroastrian ritual behavior. Temples the Merv Oasis was inhabited by clans of the abound: ‘the Northern and Southern Water Akhal, Saryks, Salors, Ersaris “and others” Temples’, ‘Fire Temples’ the ‘Solar Temple of totaling “230,000 souls” in a state of continuous Mithra’, the ‘Temple of Sacrifices’, the ‘Temple tribal conflict. Nineteenth century travel of Communal Eating’ and the ‘Temple for describes a settlement regime, a pastoral nomadic /Haoma’. The ‘Temple of Mithra’ is said to context, an omnipresent irrigation network, and contain a ‘solar altar’ (a not unusual hearth with the presence of fortifications protecting settle- ample ashes) and a composite figurine “found ment and waterworks that appear to their nearby’ identified as Arshtat, Goddess of Justice. Bronze Age counterparts (Fig. 6). Such conjecture is sufficient to reach the conclu- Today the stratified BMAC site of Adji Kui sion that “the origin of Mithraism should be (Rossi Osmida, 2002; 2008) offers the best evi- looked for in Bactia and Margiana’ (Sarainidi, dence for the chronology of the Oxus Civilization 2008: 121) (Fig. 7). while Gonur, also a stratified site, offers the most Sarainidi’s evidence for the presence of Soma- extensive horizontal exposure and material inven- Haoma in each of these ‘temples’ is loosely con- tory. At Gonur the numerous publications of ceived. Soma-hoama is the hallucinogenic (?) Sarianidi (see bibliography) present the site as drink favored by Indra, the God of Battle, men- consisting of a single period, without stratigraphic tioned in the RgVeda as a “god of Gods” (RV or chronological distinctions (Salvatori, 2010; 9.42). The most comprehensive and influential Lamberg-Karlovsky, 2003). Although Sarianidi study involving the much contested identity of (2003: 206-208) writes of different building levels, Soma-Haoma, including a review of the related i.e. as many as four temples built on top of each linguistic, Vedic, historical, and ethnographic other (Sarianidi, 2009: 99, fig. 17-18) no effort is material, is that of Harry Falk (2003). He con- ISSN 0211-1608 30 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figure 6. Medieval irrigation system of canals controlled by specific tribal lineage (Muhammedjanov, 1978: 130 fig. 19). cludes that for Soma-Haoma “there is no need to poppy seeds and . Analysis of both finds look for a plant other than ephedra, the one plant of ephedra could not confirm its identification used to this day by the Parsis”, the (see Houben, 2003 for the 1995 analysis and Zoroastrians of Iran and . In 1995, Sarianidi Bakels, 2003 for the second identification). As claimed to have found ephedra twigs in a vessel with the ‘Temple of Soma-Haoma’ the identifica- uncovered at Gonur. In 1998 a second discovery tion of numerous other “temples” rest more on of ephedra was reported as accompanied by allegation than on demonstration. In each and ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 31

Figure 7. The “palace” of Gonur depe and associated “temples” (Sarianidi, 2005: 31). every case the identification of a “temple”, or spe- fact sizable reservoirs, the ‘Northern Water cialized activity areas, i.e. the area for “communal Temple’ being 180 x 80 m, in which water was eating”, numerous and distinctive “ritual directed to the center of the fortified community. hearths”, a “dakhme-mausoleum” (an area for the The unique discovery of a man-made reservoir exposure of the dead), and different types of “ritual within a heavily fortified community would vessels” are all identified as conforming to the advantage its survival when under siege and functions of Zoroastrian ritual. Of special interest serves further notice on the need for strategies of are two designated “Water Temples”. These are in survival. ISSN 0211-1608 32 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

The so-called ‘Palace of North Gonur’ con- sacrifice of the “communally dead”. sacri- tains rooms 91-94 and in the “backyard of the fice of “slaves” is paralleled to the Royal Tombs kings residence a dakhma-mausoleum with royal at (Sarianidi, 2008; 2009). burials” (Fig. 8). The ten “royal burials” exposed Tomb 3220 may be singled out for its excep- in these rooms are of outstanding interest. Many tional wealth as well as for problems concerning individual burials appear to be accompanied by a context and association. A “royal residence and

Figure 8. The “palace” of Gonur depe (Rossi Osmida, 2002: 19). ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 33

royal necropolis” are said to be dated to the last have all the features of living houses, hearths, centuries of the 3rd millennium. The tombs are cooking areas, sherds on the floor, etc. and the described as “underground miniature houses” and burials are recorded as beneath the floor of the believed to attest to the fact that “only Indo- houses. In the rich burial of 3220 the actual burial tribes make burials in the shape of underground was found “half a meter beneath the floor of the houses” (Sarianidi, 2009: 192-194). But are they house” together with 24 vessels: 2 gold, 17 silver really burials in “underground houses” or are they and 5 bronze (Fig. 9a-d). One of the large silver houses with burials beneath the floor? The houses vessels had a procession of two Bactrian

Figures 9a. The “Royal Cementery” at Gonur, Tombs 3200 and 3210 (Sarianidi, 2009: 151 fig. 63-64). ISSN 0211-1608 34 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figure 9b. Gold vessels from Gonur, Tomb 3220 (Sarianidi, 2009: 161 fig. 73). in relief and an incised Bactrian at its base. burial 3235 the burial is over a meter beneath the The author’s dubious contention that this is the floor and contained 7 vessels: 2 gold, 3 silver and earliest illustration of the permits 2 bronze. Many additional fine artifacts were dis- him to suggest that “we have the grounds to give covered in the “yards” that were outside these them another name –camel’s margiana”. Burial subterranean “burial houses”. In “royal grave” beneath the houses, as well as outside the house 3200 “gifts were found in the yard and to the East within “yards” are commonly reported. Thus, in from the central gates of the tomb a four ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 35

Figures 9c. The “Royal Cementery” at Gonur, Tomb 3220 (Sarianidi, 2009: 153 fig. 66-67). ISSN 0211-1608 36 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figures 9d. Silver, gold and bronze vessels from Gonur, Tomb 3220 (Sarianidi, 2009: 160 fig. 72). cart was found”. The cart, unillustrated, is of five trumpets recovered (Sarianidi, 2009: 324, claimed to be the earliest cart recovered in the fig. 184) (Fig. 10c). (Sarianidi, 2009: 197). Royal tomb Sarianidi does not offer zooarchaeological evi- 3225 also contained a cart with “human sacri- dence for the presence of the domesticated fices” of “slaves and servants” (Sarianidi, 2009: at Gonur. Equids are certainly present but are they 198-200) (Fig. 10a). In burials classified as “pit- caballus? To date, only the onager and the graves”, burial 3240 contained 15 skeletons while domestic donkey (equus asinus) are known to be 3235 had eight skeletons all said to be sacrificial present at Gonur (Moore, 1993; Meadow, 1993). victims. The sacrifice of camels, dogs, sheep and The presence of Andronovo at Gonur, the horse (tomb 3200) is also reported. Tomb 3210 characteristic ceramics of the Eurasian steppes contained a splendid 86 cm mosaic frieze of where the modern horse was domesticated, cer- opposed (Fig. 10b). It was discovered in the tainly implies that the horse was known to the “yard” of the tomb floating 1.5 meters above the BMAC. Sarianidi, however, tends to disregard the floor level. Tomb 3210 contained a silver “signal influence of the steppes and holds that the “horse trumpet (…) for training of domestic ”; one appeared not from the local steppes but rather ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 37

Figure 10a. Wagon burial from Gonur, Tomb 3225 (Sarianidi, 2005: 240 fig. 99).

Figures 10b. “Winged ” mosaic from Gonur, Tomb 3210 (Sarianidi 2009: 211 fig. 122-123). ISSN 0211-1608 38 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figure 10c. A bronze trumpet from Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2009: 324 fig. 184). from the advanced center of the world and first of “burial houses”. Royal tombs were ten in number all from Asia Minor and presumably from the while the cemetery, extending over 10 hectares, modern area of Syria” (Fig. 11a-b). Why? and containing 2853 excavated tombs, had 2.1% Problems of context and association arise from “ graves”, 11% “pit graves”, and 85.1% shaft the author’s description of the finds within the graves (Fig. 12). Secondary burials are also tombs. Thus, from the “Royal reported and said to “resemble closely the Tombs” are reported as coming from the “very rites described in the ” [the sacred of upper layer’, “upper layers”, “lower layer”, the Zoroastrians] (Sarianidi, 2010: 236). “floor”, “yard” and “under the floor” of the Irrespective of date, context, and association, the ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 39

Figure 11a. Horse’s (?) head of bronze from Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2002: 237).

Figures 11b. Burial of a horse (?), Tomb 3340 in “Royal Necropolis” at Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2008: 411 fig. 223). ISSN 0211-1608 40 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figure 12. Excavation of the Gonur cemetery (partial view) (Sarianidi, 2007: 22-23). ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 41

materials recovered from the tombs are of excep- Zoroastrian religion and Aryan ethnicity. For tional interest, representative of the highest Sarianidi it is these latter concepts that give achievement in craft manufacture, and equal in ‘meaning’ to the material world of Gonur. aesthetic production, to anything produced in the Bronze Age Near East. The richness, both with regard to technological achievement and aesthetic quality is abundantly demonstrated in the ten “Royal burials”. Virtually all the materials recovered within the BMAC, whether of gold, silver, bronze, or had to be imported from con- siderable distance. Some objects consisted of multiple materials as a ‘hairpin” consisting of a flower with golden petals, ivory, lapis and an iron (meteoric) stem (Sarianidi, 2009: 185, fig 94) (Fig. 13). Foreign contacts, whether they be gift exchange or attesting to commercial relations are evident in the recovery of an Indus seal (Sarianidi, 2005: 258, fig. 114), depicting an ele- phant and inscription, and an Akkadian seal also with inscription (Sarianidi, 2005: 258, fig. 115). The inscription, as read by T. Sharlach, states “Lucaks a holder of the cup and servant” (Sarianidi, 2002: 334). Foreign objects recovered from the Indus Civilization are relatively rare, however, BMAC statuary and seals are attested at Mohenjodaro and Harappa while numerous sites on the Iranian Plateau contain ubiquitous BMAC artifacts: Shahdad, Hissar, Khinaman, Yahya and Susa (Amiet, 1986, 2004; Potts, 2008; Hiebert and Lamberg-Karlovsky, 1992). The absence of a single BMAC artifact in Mesopotamia is surely trying to tell us something. But what? In Sarianidi’s (2009) recent book the author acts as a tour guide and offers a description and interpretation for what the viewer would observe in visiting Gonur depe. Each of the objects observed and the architectural complexes ‘visited’ is given what Searle (2010) calls a “status func- tion” resulting from the fact that “ have the capacity to impose functions on objects”. At Gonur our tour guide imposes an a priori “status function” to specific artifacts, ceramic vessels, Figure 13. and architectural complexes all functioning within Iron shalt and golden pommel specific Zoroastrian rituals. The validity of these from Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2009: 185 fig. 94). “status functions” are surrounded by the concepts that Sarianidi imbues them with, namely, a Doubtless concepts do imbue ‘facts’ with meaning. Zoroastrian world of Aryan mythology. Concepts In this regard Sarianidi’s ‘facts’ follow from the embed artifacts and buildings with meaning, and, application of the concepts he adopts. Gonur’s just as there is no money without the concept of very materiality, its pottery, hearths, burial patterns, money, there is no status function to any artifact metallurgy, , architectural features, even or building at Gonur without the concept of reservoirs are given ‘meaning’ within a world of ISSN 0211-1608 42 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Zoroastrian and Aryan concepts of ritual and evidence for ancestor worship. Alternatively, belief. Our Gonur guide offers a rich narrative of appealing to another line of ethnographic evi- interpretation but his narrative is virtually void of dence and one that casts a darker shadow on our demonstration beyond personal authority. appreciation of the PPNB, is their interpretation Allegations regarding the “status function” of as trophies. How to choose between material Gonur’s material inventory rest entirely on the evidence that address different ‘concepts’? concepts he imposes upon this imagined Aryan Processual archaeology in its emphasis upon the and Zoroastrian community. ecological and material largely avoided addressing social concepts while the post-processual In adopting concepts to explain an archaeologi- approach allows for any narrative, any ‘trope’, to cal complexity does Sarianidi differ from an epis- offer ‘meaning’ which, of course, differs from temology of archaeological practice? The answer explanation. Just think of how the archaeological would be ‘No’. For example: the concept of the record has been changed, confirmed, and contested ‘State’ is believed to be given an archaeological by the introduction of the concept of ‘feminism’ presence by the identification of a 3-4 tiered or ‘Orientalism’. Sarianidi consistently inhabits hierarchy (village, , city) of settlement. The the ‘hermeneutic circle’ wherein interpretation, nature of that state, however, remains entirely meaning and ideology are the very substance of unexplained. Thus, a specific settlement hierar- his narrative. The materiality of his BMAC world chy equals a ‘State’ but the socio-political struc- is interpreted as embedded in Zoroastrian beliefs ture of that state remains wholly unexplained. and rituals. Ceramics, architectural features and An archaeological identification of an emperor entire complexes, as well as individual artifacts, with no clothes! As Ian Morris (2011: 135ff) are given a meaning by alleging them to have observes for the past, as well as for the present, Zoroastrian functions. Beyond allegation and per- size alone does not indicate complexity, let alone sonal authority there is little evidence to support organization. Today Lagos is the size of New his interpretations. Unwittingly, Sarianidi is the York City yet is lacking in organizational com- most post of post-processual archaeologists. His plexity, bureaucratic systems and institutional is an imaginative narrative in which allegation structures. A settlement hierarchy tells one trumps demonstration. absolutely nothing as to the structure of that state: kingship?, dictatorship?, theocratic?, democratic?, While Sarainidi inhabits the Aryan world of etc. In each of the above ‘states’ one imagines proto-Zoroastrian Gonur with a rich interpretive their definition by modern examples. The BMAC context he all but ignores the economic subsis- cannot be aligned with any of the above ‘states’ tence patterns, environment, settlement pattern, and must give way to its own definition. We may landscape, and the socio-political world of surmise that it was, like all Bronze Age states of the ancient Gonur. Again, an important case in point: , without defined boundaries, is the horse, equus caballus, present at Gonur? subject to the absolute and arbitrary rule of the Sarianidi would have us believe that it is, for its leader, embedded in the importance of kinship, presence in an Aryan world is a sine qua non. legitimized by divine sanctions, and finally, as Though the presence of the modern horse is David Hume observed royal power maintained its alleged we have little evidence that the zooar- right as the sole institution of “force and usurpa- chareological remains from Gonur were sys- tion”. Like the 19th century khanates of tematically recovered or studied by specialists. A and Bukhara, and some states today, brief summary of faunal remains is published we may fairly call it a coercive ‘mafia state’. The by Sataev (2008).The same pertains to the state is being viewed as the property of the ruling paleoethnobotanical remains (for the best early elite. Settlement regime, pattern, or hierarchy, had review see Moore, 1993; Meadow, 1993 and nothing to do in the past or in the present with a Moore, Miller, Hiebert and Meadow, 1994; For privileged identity or definition of the state! more recent analysis of wood, botanical remains, C-14, and ceramic analyses see Sarianidi, Concepts of fertility, ancestor worship, female 2008b) and for (Kanuith, 2006). figurines, plastered skulls, irrigation systems, and monumental architecture, conjure-up certain a There can be little doubt that irrigation played priori interpretations. Within the PPNB plastered a significant role in the agricultural production of skulls are taken, on ethnographic analogy, to be the Oxus Civilization. Today the entirety of the ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 43

Murghab deltaic fan is interlaced by irrigation reduction of water flowing from the Pamir canals dedicated to the production of cotton. The Mountains. This factor is believed to be coinci- linear pattern of settlements within the BMAC dent with an advance of sand brought into settle- suggests their placement along major canals of ments and irrigation canals by the prevailing the deltaic fan and along extended irrigation northern winds (Salvatori, 2008). The second canals within the oases. For an early comprehen- ‘causal’ factor is seen in an increasing pastoral sive study of ancient irrigation systems within the nomadic presence and concomitant hostile rela- Chalcolithic and Bronze Age of Central Asia see tions. Settlement surveys record an increasing Litsitsina (1965) and Andrianov (1960). incursion of nomadic encampments, the so-called “Andronovo Question” in proximity to BMAC The cultural of the Iranian Plateau, settlements (1800-1500 B.C.) (Cattani, 2008). as seen from the Mesopotamian texts, is a richly There is, however, little, if any, evidence for con- contested landscape. Is the BMAC mentioned in flict between the BMAC and the ephemeral pas- the third millennium texts? Recently, Daniel Potts toral nomadic presence. The final Bronze Age, the (2009) has answered the question in the affirma- Takhirbay 3 phase of the second half of the second tive. He suggests that the Oxus Civilization is not millennium, is said to document a dramatic reduc- only known but frequently mentioned as tion of sites in Margiana/Bactria and an integra- ‘Shimashki’. On the other hand, Steinkeller tion of the sedentary communities (descendents of (2007), reading the same texts, and the BMAC?) and pastoralist populations Henrickson’s (1984) study of archaeological (Kuzmina, 2007: 211-291, 2008; Piankova, settlement patterns, place Shimashki on the 1993). eastern slopes of the Zagros Mountains in western Iran. To further complicate the issue Henri-Paul Over the past decade Gabiele Rossi Osmida Francfort and Xavier Tremblay (2009) identify has been excavating BMAC sites in the Adji Kui the Oxus Civilization as Marhasi, mentioned Oasis: the fortified settlements of Adji Kui 1 and along with Shimashki in late third millennium 9. He makes an important distinction as to the texts as important kingdoms. Marhasi, in turn, has nature of the two settlements. Adji Kui 1 is been identified by Steinkeller (1982) as located in referred to as a “farm” (Fig. 14a-b). Impressive southeastern Iran, in the region of the Jiroft, i.e., fortification walls surround the settlement. The incorporating the sites of Konar Sandal, Shahdad, central core of the fortified settlement is occupied and Tepe Yahya (Madjidzadeh and Pittman, by individual houses, large two-storey circular 2009). The location of Shimashki may be contested kilns for firing pottery, and an occasional inter- but its importance leaves no doubt. In alliance mural burial (for pottery types of the BMAC see with the Elamites the Shimashkians brought to an Udeumuradov, 1993; 2002). Four superimposed end, by conquest, one of the most power- levels of architecture were recovered with an ful dynasties of the third millennium: the Ur III earlier underlying “eneolithic” settlement, radio- Empire (Potts, 2009). dated to the first half of the third millenni- um. What distinguishes Adji Kui 1 from 9 is the While the Oxus Civilization may have played presence of a large fort (qala) within the center of a role in the demise of the Ur III Empire it did not the equally well fortified settlement (Fig. 15a-b). sustain its own continuity long after that event. The excavator refers to this formidable qala as a By 1700 B.C. virtually all of the fortified settle- “caravanserai”. The presence of a fortified ‘farm” ments of the BMAC are abandoned. Pottery of the distinguished from a qala is well demonstrated in so-called Takhirbay Culture, mid-second millenni- the ethnographic context (for illustrations of um, does bear some similarity to the BMAC distinctions of farm and qala in the 19th century while its settlement regime and material culture see Szabo and Barfield, 1991: 164, 188). are essentially different (Piankova, 1993 for Sarianidi refers to similar structures as a “temple” bibliography), suggesting that ‘collapse’ is more or “palace”. I have suggested the term qala, on of a ‘process’ than an ‘event’ (Mcanany and ethnoarchaeological grounds, to designate the resi- Yoffee, 2010). The collapse of the BMAC is not a dence of a local khan (Lamberg-Karlovsky, 1994). much considered topic. Two hypotheses have Thus, the settlement of Adji Kui 9 parallels that been advanced, neither with strong supporting which we know from Gonur and Togolok: a evidence. The first argues for a progressive dete- heavily fortified settlement, with square or round rioration of the environment resulting from a bastions, containing a significant fortified ‘qala’ ISSN 0211-1608 44 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figure 14a. Excavations at Adji-Kui 9, “the farm” (Courtesy G. Rossi Osmida). ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 45

Figure 14b. Adji-Kui 9, “the farm” (Barfield, 2010: 188).

Figure 15a. Excavations at Adji-Kui 1, “the ‘qala” (Courtesy G. Rossi Osmida). ISSN 0211-1608 46 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figure 15b. Adji-Kui 1, “the ‘qala” (Barfield, 2010: 163). within the fortified community. The distance The significant differences between the two between Adji Kui 1 and 9 is less than 2 km. A communities architecture, the proximity of a shared cemetery between the two settlements has been cemetery, and the first identification of an excavated and was doubtlessly shared by both ‘eneolithic’ settlement in the Murghab delta have communities. The total size of the communities significant import. Based on the results of his strati- can be determined only through excavation but graphic excavations, and radiocarbon chronology, based on sherd scatter a figure in excess of 10 Gabriele Rossi Osmida suggests a continuous hectares is assured. The presence of a “fort”, sequence of settlement at Adji Kui 1 from “palace”, temple” or “qala” at Adji Kui 9 and a 2800/2700 B.C. to 1800/1700 B.C. (Fig. 16). His is “farm” at Adji Kui 1 suggests that the former an unequivocal support for the indigenous develop- housed the local authority while the latter, was ment of the Oxus Civilization while distancing the inhabited by a related community devoted to agri- BMAC from the fantasies of an Aryan, Zoroastrian cultural production. and Vedic world of migrants from Anatolia. ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 47

Figure 16. Chronological Periods of Adji-Kui 1 (Courtesy G. Rossi Osmida). ISSN 0211-1608 48 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

What may be said of the culture of the Oxus Khorezmian Project (Tolstov, 1948 for summary Civilization? Its material culture is sui generis volume). while its aesthetic products and technological The importance of irrigation in Central Asia is achievements are the equal of any Bronze Age a leit motif of all authors, whether concerned with community in the Near East. Its fortification sys- antiquity or recent times. The principal city along tems are more impressive than any within the the Murghab River was, from the Iron Age to contemporary Bronze Age of the Near East. modern times, Merv. It was visited by Alexander Artifacts of the BMAC are found on numerous the Great, ruled by his successor Antiochus sites from Susa to Mohenjodaro (Amiet, 1986; Nicator, and during Sassanian times it was the Possehl, 2004; Ratnagar, 2004), and the Persian seat of a Nestorian archbishop. On February 25th Gulf/ (Potts, 2008). Gregory 1221 the , under the leadership of Possehl (2004) has recently coined the term “The Genghis Khan, destroyed the irrigation networks Middle Asian Interaction Sphere” (MAIS) to cap- and are said to have killed 700,000 residents of ture the extensive relations that characterized the the city. Contemporary texts all attest to the irri- north-south interaction involving the BMAC, the gation systems as the lifeline of the communities. Indus Valley, the Iranian Plateau and Arabian In 1784 The Emir of Bukhara broke the great dam Peninsula. Unfortunately, this restrictive term of Merv “which filled the numerous canals and narrows the extent of interaction that characterized fertilized the whole country, in the hope of ren- the Bronze Age of Asia. The constituents of that dering it a desert”. For decades after the destruc- termed MAIS (Central Asia, the Eurasian steppes, tion of Merv, and its surrounding countryside, the the Indus Valley, Persian Gulf, and the Iranian region was reduced to “about 100 mud huts” Plateau) had extensive relations, political and eco- (Stewart, 1881: 535-536). By 1840 Lt. Col. G.E. nomic, with Mesopotamia, which in turn, had Stewart observed that “During the misrule and continuous interactions throughout the Bronze anarchy of the past 60 years the ancient dam of Age with the eastern Mediterranean. The nature the Murghab was neglected and carried away. The of this expansive interaction, at different times dam is again set up and the lands brought under and in different places, involved conflict, political culture” alliances, gift exchange, , and even open markets (Salvatori, 2008a; Lamberg-Karlovsky, Although, one does not wish to support Karl 2009; 2013). The interactive world of MAIS was Wittfogel’s (1963) “Irrigation Hypothesis” in part of a far greater world of communication which the centralized control of water resources extending from the Aegean to China and involving leads to the emergence of a pristine despotic state, a down-the-line chain of interaction. it should be obvious that irrigation dictates choices for settlement, colonization and urbanization. It The Oasis environment of the BMAC in which also exposes dependents to natural calamities, i.e. specific oases are connected by both natural and reduced rainfall, siltation, flooding, as well as constructed canals begs the question as to the humanly induced conflicts for the control of a nature of the administration of water. Given the limited resource. It becomes equally obvious that arid environment, the scarcity of water, the popu- even before a settlement density is achieved and lation density of numerous urban centers and the reaches its carrying capacity that regional cen- absolute dependency on irrigation for agricultural ter(s) of authority will emerge to administer the production, it is hard to conceive of the allocation limited water resource. Efforts to extend the limits and administration of water, dams, sluice gates, of resource exploitation by grabbing more land fish weirs, and reservoirs (as evident at Gonur) and/or water brought forth challenges to authori- not being under a regional central authority. ty. In the past such challenges were exercised by Ethnohistorical information from Central Asia, specific lineages whose elite were considered as both environmental and cultural, inform us that having the exclusive right to rule (Vambery, 1865: fortification systems, the control of irrigation net- 378-412; Sneath, 2007; Barfield, 2010 71-76). works, and regional conflict are all co-occurring phenomenon. Nineteenth century ethnohistorical The BMAC would appear to contain a material data, involving these three factors, are compli- culture, technological achievements, and a settle- mented by comparable evidence derived from the ment density that can be compared to Iron Age, Bronze Age and Medieval Period by the Mesopotamia. The sole significant difference is decades long research program of the the absence of . However, geometric ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 49

tokens with incised signs, sealed bullae (Fig. 17a- the major collapses of Mesopotamian society in b) and a single sherd with several inscribed the third millennium, in the E.D. IIIa, the glyphs, allegedly containing script, Sargonic, and Ur III, and perhaps the Late have been recovered and support the presence of period, all coincide with the maximum production nascent forms of administration (Sarianidi, 1998: of tablets and the highest number of scribes”. 88, fig. 41; 2002: 195; Klotchkov, 1998). The Oxus Civilization is arguably the most Giuseppe Viscato (2000: 243) reminds us that an important, and uniquely so, civilization to be dis- administrative bureaucracy in Mesopotamia covered in the second half of the . Its could be a notable burden: “The maintenance of such a large and expanding bureaucracy may have extensive contacts with distant neighbors, its become, at particular moments in , an exceptional adaptation to an oases environment, intolerable burden. We can, in fact, observe that the problematic understanding of its ‘rise and

Figures 17a. “Tokens” with their “signs” from Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 1998: 88 fig. 41). ISSN 0211-1608 50 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figures 17b. Sealing on Bullae from Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2002: 195). fall’, its signature architecture of monumental literature. A description detailing its nature has structures and fortification systems and its com- not appeared, even as a cursory summary, within plex irrigation networks add to our roster of civi- a single textbook or general work, concerning the lizations a new phenomenon – one in need of both Bronze Age Civilizations of the (but understanding and exposure to the comparative see the useful summary dealing with by approach (Fig. 18a-i). Surprisingly, the Oxus Kohl, 2007). Civilization is all but ignored in the synthetic ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 51

Figure 18a. Stone of a ram from Tomb 3220, Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2009: 196 fig. 108).

Figures 18b. Clay figurines from Adji Kui 9 (Courtesy G. Rossi Osmida). ISSN 0211-1608 52 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figures 18c. Chlorite vessels from Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2002: 131). ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 53

Figure 18d.Compound stone statue from Gonur depe (Sarianidi, 2009: 115, fig. 43).

Figure 18e. Clay figurine with bronze earring from Gonur depe. Margus 2002 (Sarianidi, 2002: 297). ISSN 0211-1608 54 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figures 18f. Bronze seals from Gonur depe. Margus 2002 (Courtesy G. Rossi Osmida) ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 55

Figures 18g. Ivory mosaics from Room 3235. Margus 2002 (Courtesy G. Rossi Osmida).

Figures 18h. Stone from Gonur Necropolis. Margus 2009 (Courtesy G. Rossi Osmida). ISSN 0211-1608 56 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Figures 18i. Bronze from Gonur Necropolis. Margus 2009 (Sarianidi, 2002: 102).

DISCUSSION of Central Asia empty into the desert. These major Although little known, and even less dis- rivers, as that of the Murghab River which cussed, the BMAC deserves a central place in dis- nourishes the BMAC, form alluvial fans as they cussions detailing the comparative nature of empty into the desert. The dendritic network of Bronze Age civilizations. It is to this concern we the deltaic fan affords numerous opportunities for turn. Throughout antiquity landownership, or agriculture within the fingered network of rivers control, was the criterion, the determinant of a emptying into the desert. They also afford an person’s social status. Land supported self, fami- opportunity for building a grid of constructed ly and clients. Its harvest offered taxes, while its canals to form an integrated irrigation network capital allowed for loans, credit and debt. Surplus throughout the deltaic fan. I do not wish to land could be rented out on a sharecropping basis reopen Wittfogel’s (1963) ‘irrigation hypothesis’ allowing for an accumulation of wealth. Within in which irrigation, as already mentioned, is the BMAC land was abundant, water was scarce. ‘causal’ to the formation of a ‘despotic state’. I do Access to water was the key to efficient and pro- mean to point out however, what has long been ductive farming while irrigation technology was held as self evident within the Central Asian the key to its distribution. The Central Asian world, whether for antiquity or more modern water regime is unique. Unlike the major rivers of times, that irrigation was absolutely central to the the world that debauch into bodies of water those emergence and sustainability of urbanization and ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 57

cultural complexity! (Schuyler, 1874; Andrianov, Irrigation required alliances, cooperation and 1960; Mohammedjanov, 1975). Throughout the competition between different city-states, tribes, the opportunities offered lineages, and, at the local level, between extended the individual, or the group/tribe, involved the families, allowing for the dissemination, control, construction of irrigation networks, and the con- and maintenance of the water supply. trol of its water. The control of water was central Was the BMAC a single ‘state’, a hegemonic to the development of power relations within power controlled by a bureaucracy led by a single regions and groups. Historically the network of person? Or was it a tribal chieftainship of constant irrigation canals that tied BMAC sites into an eco- tension over land, water, and a diversity of con- logical unity occurred within a diversity of power tending tribes? Archaeological evidence of the relations. A cyclical pattern of centripetal vs. cen- BMAC settlement regime, in which fortified trifugal forces, regional vs. centralized control, settlements were situated every 50 km, the classi- was always at play. The fact that each and every cal and medieval texts, and an extensive library of settlement within the BMAC was fortified attests ethnographic and travel literature, written over to a sustained conflict over resources. The princi- the course of the last four centuries, all argue for ple and essential resources for sustaining the con- the presence of local khans presiding over tribal siderable population was land and water contexts (for relevant descriptions of the primor- The pervasive tendency to focus upon first dial tribal world of Central Asia see the essays in order effects results in irrigation being subordi- Cummings, 1977). The extensive excavations at nated to urbanization and the emergence of cen- Gonur, its monumental fortification systems tralized political control. The presence of irriga- surrounding the community, the large central tion is perceived as a secondary order effect. This qala, its wealth placed in the cemeteries referred to as “royal”, suggest that the site was a major view finds its origins in the 1960s with the vehe- political center presided over by a great khan. ment opposition to Wittfogel’s “irrigation hypothe- Other sites, of comparable size but with less sis” as well as to the pioneering research on the extensive excavation, i.e. Togolok, Djarkutan, role of irrigation derived from the modern ethno- Adji Kui 9, attest to a diversity of political graphic and archaeological record (Fernea, 1970; powers likely presiding over distinctive tribes. I Adams, 1966: 66-71, 1981; Hunt, 1976) in which would suggest that the BMAC political structure irrigation was said to precede cultural complexity was one referred to as ‘tanistry’, representing an and thus had little to do with its emergence. Such election, by tumultuary consent, of a khan selected a view tends to overlook the fact that technologi- by a convocation of tribal chieftains. The absence cal innovation may have long term and even of a clearly defined dynastic tradition, or formal unforeseen consequences disproportionate to rules of succession, often led to what is called their immediate significance. Eliminating irriga- “bloody tanistry”, that is, a murderous competi- tion as a ‘causal’ factor in the emergence of cul- tion following the death of a khan between con- tural complexity succumbs to the fallacy of over- tenders from specific descent groups that alone looking the “law of secondary consequences’, i.e. had the right to compete for power. This form of where an initial cause is of little consequence tribal rule, which our political rulers of the modern compared to its ultimate impact. Ignoring tech- world would do well to understand, characterized nologies that gain complexity and significance Central Asia for millennia and still accounts for through time comes at a price of ignoring its slow the political system of 19th/ /20th century cumulative impact. I submit that in the absence of Afghanistan (Barfield, 2010: 78). The BMAC irrigation the BMAC, and all subsequent Central appears to conform to what Thomas Barfield calls th Asian Khanates of the 19 century could not a “Turko-Persian” tribal society, one characterized have existed. Similarly, could the Mesopotamian by a social hierarchy “organized through ranked empires of the Ur III, Sasanian and Abbasid have set of lineages, clans, and tribes in which leader- been able to support themselves in the absence of was hereditary and limited to specific the irrigation networks that allowed for a surplus descent groups. This tradition produced tribal agricultural production? Irrigation permits confederations an order of magnitude larger than surplus production of agricultural products that, egalitarian ones (i.e. the Bedouins of Arabia (…) in turn, allow for the slow cumulative emergence under the rule of a single leader”. Such hierarchi- of an ever increasing cultural complexity. cally structured confederation of militant tribes ISSN 0211-1608 58 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

could reach populations in the hundreds of thou- products (i.e. onions vs. ), prebends, share- sands, as with the Mongols led by Genghis Khan cropping, judicial punishments, the nature and or the Pashtun of Afghanistan led by Abdul extent of , even irrigation fees. Within the Rahman. Warfare and conquest was the result of social world of the BMAC such detail eludes us. competition among rival elites, often relatives However, certain universals within all Bronze from different lineages of the same tribe. This Age civilizations, from to China, may be type of state, if such it is, is perceived as the assumed for the BMAC: slavery, corvée labor, property of the ruling elite. The distinction centralized authority within a patrimonial society between tribes that are ‘egalitarian’ (tribal republi- (Schloen, 2001), the organization of commodity canism) and ‘hierarchical’, (royal pretensions) distribution under regional control, the primary must make way for the existence of both struc- role of a central authority in long distance tures within a single tribal entity. Such is true exchange, and a central authorities governance of today among the Pashtun of Afghanistan. In the a distant countryside. Such commonalities, however, 19th century the Pashtun, themselves of a com- are abstractions and offer little understanding as plex multi-ethnic background, were divided into to the specifics of social organization, law, land two great lineages, the egalitarian Gilzai and the tenure, or the ‘rules’ of governance. It is within hierarchical Durrani. Eventually the Durrani such specificities that comparisons become Pashtun established their hegemonic control over meaningful – a trait list of commonalities Afghanistan for 230 years. The tensions between becomes little more than a laundry list: allega- these two Pashtun lineages exist to this day tions of similarity without specific meaning or an (Barfield, 2010: 85-110). Such feudatory tribes, understanding of difference. or lineages, come about when neither has a privi- Within the BMAC competition for high quali- leged access to resources and compete for the ty resources, land and access to water, led to same resource. Within the BMAC conflict would social inequality and the emergence of leadership emerge from contested access to the restricted roles within a pattern of top-down governance. availability of land and water that would, in turn, Centralized social control became an instrument highlight the importance of conflict, warfare, of exploitation universally so in all Bronze Age alliances and demographic patterns. civilizations. This, in turn, resulted in what we That the BMAC was characterized by a cen- may call “social despots”, absolute rulers, who tralized authority cannot be doubted. The ques- used military means to defend their territory, their tion remains as to whether the BMAC was a cen- reproduction, and to acquire ever more high quali- tralized singularity or led by a disparity of cen- ty resources: land, water and foreign luxury tralized entities (tribes). Whichever prevailed the goods. Competition for quality resources, drove function of either would be the same: to organize social stratification as well as territorial warfare corvée labor (human capital) for the construction between competing settlement regimes. Irrigation of irrigation works, to maintain central canals, within an arid environment tends to increase the their dams and locks, to collect taxes, and to disparity in land quality and increase competition organize, maintain, provision and control dependent for access to both defensible land and water. personnel (based on extended families of unfree Increasing social stratification and the concomitant dependent laborers?) involved in agricultural pro- rise of political elites, within patrimonial lineages, duction. The central authority would also have built fortified communities to defend their territo- had judicial responsibilities as well as a monopoly rial assets generating further hierarchies, compe- (?) over long distance trade (so abundantly evi- tition, and despotic rule. Within the BMAC (and dent in the presence of luxury goods produced of other agrarian communities) the role of managerial foreign material (gold, silver, lapis lazuli, car- leadership and relations of dominance were co- nelian, turquoise, tin). The presence of great evolutionary phenomenon. The BMAC the wealth in the “royal burials” attests to the presence emergence of an economy based on defensible of acquisitive autocrats who secured power by water and agricultural land (of limited availability), accumulating wealth which in turn under girded and a skilled labor force, which, on the one hand, their central authority. When thinking of late third was involved in craft production, and, on the millennium Mesopotamia, and the presence of other hand, of corvée (attached) laborers involved texts, we can, at times, reflect upon the nature of in agriculture and the construction and mainte- credit institutions, debt, the value of differential nance of irrigation networks. One imagines the ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 59

BMAC as a mixed economy (so central to all Gonur. As unlikely as I believe his interpretations Bronze Age complexities) in which “private” land are, they stand in stark contrast to the aridity of ownership was in the hands of groups, i.e. lineages, archaeological reports that chronicle ceramic clans, extended families rather than owned by typologies and analytic charts wholly abandoning individuals. Craft production was both “private”, the presence of people and social institutions. individual artisans producing pottery, spinning Sarianidi abjures the aridity of a descriptive, typo- wool, as well as “public”, in the hands of institu- logical, and chronologically staged archaeologi- tions controlled by central authorities producing cal science in preference to interpretations and metals, preciosities, and controlling long distance constructed ‘meaning’. In a characteristic trade. Karl Polanyi (1957; 1977) offered a moment of self awareness, and in response to my nuanced approach toward understanding an criticisms of his excavation strategies, he once ancient economy: individual behavior had to be told me, and I paraphrase: “I am like Sir Leonard supported by correlated social institutions. Thus, Woolley, I have discovered a civilization and it exchange had to be supported by market institu- will take the next generation to work out the tions, redistribution by centralized political struc- details”. He is right! Nevertheless, unlike Sir tures, and, reciprocity by kinship and acquain- Leonard’s reports his will not be an adequate tance. He argued that while certain societies could representation of the scientific standards of his be dominated by one or the other mode it was day. He offers us a narrative, a montage of tem- entirely possible that for a given society all three ples, palaces, rituals and reconstructed ideologies, could be operative. Polanyi’s apocalyptic view of all restricted to an uncommon Aryan and his own day and his dislike of capitalist markets Zoroastrian world. His concerns are far removed led him to draw a sharp and false distinction from landscape, economic subsistence, or the eco- between the ancient and modern economy. A dis- logically oriented materialism of processual tinction that led to his belief that markets only archaeology, while, perhaps unwittingly, his typify the modern economy. In fact, all three approach is an exaggerated form of post-processual modes co-exist in the ancient and in the modern archaeology, wherein any interpretation makes economy! for as good a ‘story’ as any other. In the final analysis his is a remarkable achievement…the I may seem in this essay to be unduly critical discovery and elucidation of a rich material cul- of Victor Sarianidi. That would be an entirely ture of a hitherto unknown civilization. It is false impression. Once in the Hotel Savoy in evident in his many books that Sarianidi is Moscow, over an extended lunch, I expressed motivated by the recovery of both the aesthetic some of my misgivings about Gonur’s stratigra- artifact and the role they play in his uniquely phy, context, chronology, Zoroastrians, etc. I imagined reconstruction of Gonur’s social world. handed to him, for the first time, a series of C-14 As with the study of ‘origins’, so also with ‘dis- dates that he generously allowed us to obtain from covery’, both have an enduring place in the histo- Gonur and Togolok (Hiebert, 1993). The carbon ry of archaeology. Victor Sarianidi did not dis- dates ranged from 2100 –1800 B.C. At that time cover the BMAC (Galina Pugachenkova excavat- Sarianidi was championing a BMAC chronology ed such a site in Margiana in 1949 and I. that he dated to the second half of the second Masimov, 1975 surveyed the regions of the millennium (Sarianidi 1990). After careful scrutiny Murghab in 1972/73) but his decades-long exca- of the list of dates he handed back the list with the vations, of what he cumbersomely coined the comment, “You have your science, I have mine”. ‘Bactrian Margiana Archaeological Complex’, In time he was to run his own dates and came to has earned him his place in that history. fully accept a BMAC chronology extending from 2200-1700 B.C. Sarianidi is the most generous, Lastly, the discovery of the Oxus Civilization affable, and industrious archaeologist it has been has not been without political import within my privilege to know. He has been positively Turkmenistan. In the last three books written by prolific in his writing about Gonur, a trait that Victor Sarianidi two Presidents of Turkmenistan, stands in ready contrast to a significant number of the late Sapamurad Niazov (“Turkmanbashi”: archaeologists who never complete a substantial Father of the Turks) and presently, Gurganguly report on their excavations. Similarly, one may Berdimuhamedov, have hailed its discovery as of stand opposed to his equally prolific imagination exceptional importance to the nation state. regarding the Zoroastrian world of an Aryan Turkmanbashi writes in an introduction to ISSN 0211-1608 60 C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63

Sarianidi’s (2002) book that it is involved in CATTANI, M. (2008): “The Final Phase of the Bronze “pointing out profound historical roots of the Age and the “Andronovo Question in Margiana”, Turkman nation (…) [that] ancient in S. Salvatori and M. Tosi (eds.): The Bronze Age were bearers of the developed written language and Early Iron Age in the Margiana Lowlands, and the Turkman land was the fifth center of the BAR International Series 1806. Archaeopress. world civilization side-by-side with Oxford: 133-148. Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India”, while CHAZAN, M. (2010): World and President Gurgbanguly Berdimuhamedov writes: Archaeology. 2nd edition. Prentice Hall. New that the BMAC is the first in the world agricul- York. turalists and Sarianidi is to be credited for “pro- ducing the fifth centre of the world civilization” CUMMINGS, D. (1977): Country of the Turkmans. (Sarianidi, 2009). There is, of course, not a shred Royal Geographical Society. . of evidence to suggest that the BMAC was of DANI, A.H. and MASSON, V.M. (1992): History of literate Turkman ethnicity, and a library of evi- Civilizations of Central Asia. UNESCO dence against it. There is much irony in the fact Publishing. Paris. that Sarianidi identifies the BMAC with Aryans while the President of the country identifies them FAGAN, B. (2009): People of the Earth. An th as Turkman. In 2001 President Niazov awarded Introduction to World Prehistory. 13 edition. Sarianidi the nation’s highest honor, the Prentice Hall. New York. Makhtumkuli International Prize. FALK, H. (1989): “Soma I and II”. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 52 (1): 77-90. FERNEA, R.A. (1970): Shayk and Effendi. Changing REFERENCES Patterns of Authority Among the El Shabana of Southern Iraq. Harvard University Press. ADAMS, R. McC. (1966): Evolution of Urban Cambridge, MA. Societies. Aldine. Chicago. FRANCFORT, H.-P. and TREMBLAY, J. (2010): ADAMS, R. McC. (1986): Heartland of Cities. “Marhasi et la Civilization de la Oxus”. Iranica University of Chicago Press. Chicago. Antiqua, 45: 512-523. AMIET, P. (1986): L’age des èchanges inter-iraniens GUBAEV, A, KOSHELENKO, G. and TOSI, M. 3500-1700 B.C. avant J.-C. Editions de RMN. (1998): The Archaeological Map of the Murghab Paris. Delta. Preliminary Reports. IsIAO. . AMIET, P. (2004): “De l’Élam á la Margiana”, in S. HIEBERT, F. (1994): Origins of the Bronze Age Oasis Winkelmann (ed.): Seals of the Oases. Il Punto. Civilization in Central Asia. America Schoool of Venice. Prehistoric Research Bulletin, 42. Harvard University. Cambridge, MA. ANDRIANOV, B.V. (1960): Drevnii Orositel’ny Sistemy Praralya [Ancient Irrigation Systems in HIEBERT, F. and LAMBERG-KARLOVSKY, C.C. the Aral Region]. Nauka. Moscow. (1992): “Central Asia and the Indo-Iranian Borderlands”. Iran, 30: 1-17. ASKAROV, A.A. and SHIRINOV, T.Sh. (1993): The Early Urban Culture of Bronze Age Southern HOUBEN, J.E.M. (2003): “The Soma-Haoma . Institute of Archaeology of Problem”. Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies, 9 Uzbekistan. Samarkand. (1A). BAKELS, C.C. (2003): “Report Concerns the HUNT, R.C. and HUNT, E. (1976): “Canal Contents of a Ceramic Vessel Found in the White Organization and Local Social Organization”. Room of the Gonur , Merv Oasis, Current Anthropology, 17 (3): 389-411. Turkmenistan”. Electronic Journal of Vedic KANUITH, K. (2006): “Metallobjecte der Bronzezeit Studies. 9 (1C): 3. aus Nordbaktrien”. Archäeologie in Iran und , 6. Mainz an Rhein. BARFIELD, T. (2010): Afghanistan. A Cultural and Political History. Princeton University Press. KIRCHO, L.; KOROBKOVA, G. and MASSON, V.M. Princeton. (2008): The Technical and Technological ISSN 0211-1608 CuPAUAM 39, 2013: 21-63 The Oxus Civilization 61

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